Page 51 of Only Her (K2 Team)
Two hours later, Riley settled a sleeping Arthur into the carrier next to Merlin. “He’s going to be okay.” She watched for a moment as Merlin gave his friend’s face a bath before curling around Arthur as if to protect him. She’d almost lost him, and anger that someone had given him poison burned low in her stomach.
“I’m so glad,” Maria said. She got up from the chair in the corner where she’d been sitting and came over, giving Riley a hug. “Ready to go home?”
“As soon as I get things cleaned up.”
“I’ll stay and take care of it,” Brooke said from the sink where she was washing her hands.
The K2 team had jumped into action the moment Cody had called his boss. An alarm company was at her house, installing the best available system, and Maria’s husband, Jake, was patrolling the clinic parking lot while Maria had stayed with Riley, giving her support whenever possible. The clinic had been closed until Riley could return, but Cody had called Brooke, and soon after both she and Michelle had shown up.
She gave Brooke a hug. “I’m planning to be here tomorrow, but don’t schedule anything. We’ll go over the appointment book and start rescheduling everyone we cancelled this week.” She was tired and her head pounded like the devil, but that was nothing compared to what Arthur had just gone through.
“I’m going to go check on Jake while you’re finishing up,” Maria said.
She smiled at her friend. “I don’t know how to thank everyone. You guys are like movie superheroes the way you spring into action. I really appreciate it.”
“Like my brother said, we take care of our own.” Maria waved as if it were nothing, and then left to go find her husband.
As a feminist, Riley thought she should probably resent that they believed she couldn’t take care of herself, but she was also a realist. Whoever the person was, they had tried to run her over and had managed to sneak up on her, so she wasn’t invincible. The K2 guys had circled the wagons with her in the middle, and she wondered how she’d ever thank them enough.
There was no sign of Pelli. Cody dreaded telling Riley her kitten was missing, and as he stood outside her front door waiting for her to get out of Jake and Maria’s car, he knew it was going to happen in a minute. He watched as she reached over the backseat and gave Maria a hug, and then said something to Jake that made him laugh. Cody gave Jake a wave as the car backed out of the driveway.
Even with the puffy eyes from crying and her long hair pulled back in a messy ponytail, she was gorgeous. He met her halfway down the sidewalk and took the cat carrier from her, wrapped his free arm around her shoulder, and pulled her close.
“Jake called, said Arthur’s gonna be okay. That’s great news.”
She leaned her face against his arm. “It was touch and go for a while, but he’s a fighter. I was so scared I was going to lose him.”
There was probably not another man who would understand her fear as much as he did. He was getting close to accepting that he’d never find Layla, and it was a hurt deep in his heart knowing he’d lost her.
“Even though he’s a cat, I’m awful glad he’s okay,” Cody teased.
“You know you love him.” He opened the door, following her inside, and her eyes darted around the room. “You found Pelli, right?”
The owner of the alarm company walked into the living room. “We should be done here in about an hour.”
Cody welcomed the interruption. The last thing he wanted to do was tell her Pelli was gone. “Take however long you need to make sure it’s right.” Doug gave a two-finger salute before disappearing back into the bedroom.
“Who was that?” Riley asked.
He set the carrier on the coffee table. “Doug Villiers. He’s here with two of his employees. They’re installing a state-of-the-art alarm system. Tomorrow he’ll do your clinic.” While that had been going on, Cody had managed to straighten up her house. Fortunately, no lasting damage had been done, only upended things and Riley’s stuff tossed to the floor.
“Oh, okay. Where’s Pelli?”
He took her hand and led her to the sofa, sitting beside her. “I’m sorry, darlin’, but he’s not here.”
“Maybe he’s hiding.” Tears pooled in her eyes.
“I don’t think so. I’ve looked in every cabinet and hiding place I could find.” When the tears overflowed and streamed down her cheeks, he wrapped his arms around her and held her close. “I think he’s alive. We just have to find him.” He wished he could be sure about that, but his gut said the bad guy would have left Pelli’s body for her to find if they’d killed the cat.
There was so much hope and trust in her eyes that he silently vowed he’d find her kitten even if he had to tear the town apart.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Friday afternoon, Riley slipped on a pair of black-and-gray silk pajama pants and a soft, light-gray pullover top after taking a shower. Hair dried and left down her back, face moisturized, and lips glossed, she decided she was done. Cody had taken care of feeding her since she’d come home from the hospital, but tonight she would make dinner.
One thing she never scrimped on was food. At any given time, her pantry and refrigerator were full. She was self-aware enough to understand that her reason for needing to have an abundance of food on hand was a direct correlation to her childhood.
She liked to cook, and on Sundays would often make a batch of freezable meals. After Cody left for his doctor’s appointment, she eyed the possibilities in her freezer, settling on lasagna. That, along with French bread and a salad, should satisfy a man’s stomach.
